Shelly and Darryl De Ruiter to Join Many Hands Staff in Haiti

by | Mar 21, 2018

(L-R) Darryl and Shelly De Ruiter
PELLA, IA  – Many Hands is pleased to announce the addition of new senior management in Haiti. Shelly and Darryl De Ruiter of Holland, MI, have answered the call and will be joining the Many Hands team in Pignon, Haiti. Both will be filling newly created roles, with Shelly filling the new position of Spiritual Direction Manager, and Darryl the new position of Organizational Development Manager.

“They are both high-capacity, servant-hearted leaders, committed to doing the Lord’s work.”

Commenting on this, Tim Brand, Many Hands Executive Leader said, “With the continued growth of our programs in Haiti, we’ve been praying for some time for God to anoint and call the right couple to come alongside Craig, Christi, and the rest of the staff in Haiti. Our desire has been a couple with administrative experience around education, deep spiritual maturity, and hearts to serve the Lord. Our prayers have been answered with Shelly and Darryl accepting the call. They are both high-capacity, servant-hearted leaders, committed to doing the Lord’s work. We can’t be more excited.”

Darryl De Ruiter joins Many Hands from Holland Christian Schools in Michigan, where he served for three years as the High School Principal. Previous to Holland Christian, Darryl served as Principal and Head of School for 12 years at Pella Christian in Pella, IA.  Darryl has more than 30 years of experience in education, holding administration, coaching, and teaching roles. As Organizational Development Manager, Darryl will oversee the programs involving Education, Leadership Development, and Agronomy in Haiti. He will also work with our staff and continue to pour into them from a development perspective.

Shelly De Ruiter brings 26 years of physical therapy experience, along with experience in spiritual development, recently completing a one-year Spiritual Director program through the Dominican Center in Grand Rapids. As Spiritual Direction Manager, Shelly will facilitate the support of leadership in-country, focusing on mentoring, prayer, staff support, and spiritual development.

“These roles fit our respective skill sets well. My administrative and leadership experience have prepared me for the ODM role and Shelly’s passion, faith journey, and recent completion of the Spiritual Director program make her an ideal fit for the Spiritual Direction position,” explained Darryl.

“This will not be easy work. Haiti is hard, and Haiti is a dark place spiritually.  It is a place of great chaos. We need lots of prayers and lots of encouragement as we begin a new calling that we believe God has ordained and has prepared and equipped us for.”

Darryl’s start date is July 1, 2018, with a planned move to Haiti for the couple sometime between October 1, 2018 and January 1, 2019. Please lift up Darryl and Shelly De Ruiter in your prayers as they prepare for their work and their move to Haiti.

About Many Hands

Many Hands envisions a world where people transform together, to be love in action, through the presence of Jesus Christ, to be called people, living with purpose, unleashing God-given talents and resources to bring Good News in a broken world.

Many Hands works to lay a solid foundation that builds up individuals, communities, and ultimately Haiti, toward life transformation in Christ. They do this through focused initiatives and programs in Education, Leadership Development, Food and Agriculture, Safe Homes, Medical Assistance and Economic Development.

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